


Powers That Be

by hanakin2710



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Eleven becoming a Byers, F/M, Jonathan and El bonding, Joyce being the mom we all need, Mike & Eleven endgame, Post S3, Powerless El, Will And Eleven are BFFs cause that’s how it should be, clueless mike
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-29 23:17:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20090437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanakin2710/pseuds/hanakin2710
Summary: Post S3. Eleven adjusting to life with the Byers, life without Mike and life without her powers. Chronological one shots.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a few ideas floating around because the Duffer Brothers and Millie Bobby Brown created magic in Eleven and I legit can’t wait 2 years for Season 4 so writing a time filler :)

I.

There is something to be said about the human heart. Eleven knows it’s job is to pump blood through her veins, like a battery, a machine. It doesn’t need any help to do its job, it doesn’t need to be told to beat.

She never knew though, that the heart could beat like _this_.

So much of her life, Eleven has been lead by her brain, her mind. It was her guide and her weapon and for the longest time it led her right. But now... _god_, now her heart is finally taking control and urging her to do something her mind is adamant is a monumentally terrible idea.

‘This is a terrible idea, El.’

The voice of her stepbrother seems to echo the voice of reason that is counseling her at the moment.

‘I need to do this, Will.’

‘No you don’t! You don’t need to do this.’

Eleven turns to him, finding herself tilting her head up to match his gaze. Over the past few months, Will has shot up, unfairly so considering he is younger then her. His hair is still long and flat and it gives him that boyish quality that his angular face seems to be betraying.

‘The gate is closed. Nothing has happened in Hawkins since we left, you don’t need to protect anyone anymore.’ His hand instinctively goes to the back of his neck and El’s heart breaks a little. In some ways, Eleven’s mistake in opening the gate had affected Will more than herself. He will carry the memories of being trapped in the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer for the rest of his life.

Which is why she had to do this.

‘If something happens again...’ 

‘It won’t!’

‘We don’t know that.’ She speaks gently because she knows that the subject is sensitive to them both and Will has always been more emotional than any of the other boys in the Party. ‘If someone opens the gate again and I still don’t have my powers... there is nobody that can stop them. The Mind Flayer is still alive and you know he doesn’t forget.’

Will’s eyes glass over and he takes a shaky breath. ‘How can you want to go back to that _place_, El? What those men did to you, what Brenner did...’

Memories of her childhood flood past like a sledgehammer, though Eleven has long gotten used to handling the emotions that come with them.

‘Dr. Owens is _not_ like Papa.’ She doesn’t know why she still calls that monster papa. She guesses the word doesn’t hold any sentimental value to her. Not like Dad.

Her heart gives a shudder at the memory of Hopper, one that causes her eyes to water. She blinks and looks away from Will, but her step brother reads her like a book. He lifts a hand squeezes her arm gently, saying nothing. ‘Dr. Owens helped Hopper and me. He might be able to help me get my abilities back.’

‘There has to be another way.’

‘There isn’t. But it won’t be like before. This time, the tests will be on my terms.’ She takes a steely breath, her eyes fixed to the phone sitting between them with Dr. Owens number beside it. _In Case of Emergency_ is scrawled in Hopps terrible writing. ‘I need to do this, Will.’

‘We need to tell mom, she will worry otherwise.’

Her heart gives a terrible thud once more because she knows this decision will break Joyce’s heart and after everything she has been though and she has done for Eleven, Joyce doesn’t deserve that. But Eleven has thought long and hard about the consequences and she knew sacrifices needed to be made.

‘I will tell her.’

‘Promise?’

Eleven nods. ‘Promise.’

‘What about Mike?’

Eleven’s breath rushes from her lungs in a _whoosh_. She knew it was coming, had been expecting Will to play his trump card eventually when he had exhausted all other options but it still hit her like a brick, hearing Mike’s name and knowing what this will do to him.

‘I wasn’t... I wasn’t going to say anything to him.’

‘El...’

‘He doesn’t need to know. I’ll make sure I can contact him, and I’ll be out when he comes to visit for Thanksgiving. Mike... wouldn’t understand.’

Will fixes her with a stare, hazel eyes burning with an emotion Eleven doesn’t recognize.

‘Eleven, friends don’t lie.’

Eleven realizes then that she had been led right into Will’s trap. As quiet as he is, Will is incredibly intelligent. Of _course_ he would lead her here. When Mike had said that to her so many years ago, the words seem imprinted on Eleven’s very being. No matter what, she could never sway away from them. And she could never ever lie to Mike.

And Will knew that.

Eleven slumps back in her chair, temporarily defeated. A few moments later, she feels her cheeks damp and reaches up to wipe them dry with the heel of her hand. ‘I’m _afraid_.’

The admission seems to confirm Will’s temporary victory, at least for today, and his shoulder slump as the tension sitting there leaves.

‘You don’t need to be.’ He reaches over and takes her hand in his. ‘If something happens, if the Mind Flayer returns, we will defeat it together.’

‘How?’

‘We will find a way. Just like last time. Your powers were gone but we still managed to beat the Mind Flayer, together.’

Eleven shakes her head. ‘If I had my powers, maybe Billy and, and _Hopper_,’ her voice breaks into sobs and she doesn’t finish her sentence because some battles are too big, even for her.

‘Honey...’

Will and Eleven both turn to see Joyce standing in the doorway, arms folded over one another, eyes glassy. Seeing her there seems to break Eleven, even more so when the other woman crosses the room and folds Eleven up into her arms in a hug that would almost be bone breaking if it didn’t feel so necessary.

Eleven sobs in Joyce’s arms. This wasn’t the first time she has and it wouldn’t be the last because there is comfort in being open with her, a hug she so wanted from her own mother.

‘Hopper and Billy’s deaths, they weren’t your fault.’ Joyce’s voice echoes, almost like El is in the Void, and they crash into the stone wall of guilt that she has been carrying around.

Because it is Eleven’s fault.

She opened the gate, she let out the Demogorgon, and everything passed that was the consequences. Will’s nightmares, Barb’s death, and now the death of Billy and the father Eleven has finally found, they died because of her.

And if the gate ever opened again, Eleven needed to be ready.

But she can still take comfort in the brush of Joyce’s hand in her hair, the smell of her oversized shirt, and that is enough for Eleven at the moment. For today, this hour, this second, it was enough.

II.

Of all of Eleven’s powers, she missed the Void the most. Her telekinesis was powerful, sure, and it was her go to ability when it came to fighting, but the ability to locate anyone, or even visit them just to know they are all right, she mourned it most of all.

Especially now, as she scans article after article in the Chicago times in the public library for any stories on murders or robberies that seemed out of the ordinary.

Because without the Void, how else was she supposed to find Kali?

The idea came to her a week after Will convinced her not to contact Dr. Owens. Past the scientists, Kali helped further develop Eleven’s abilities until they were far more powerful, though her methods and lifestyle were hardly ideal.

The understanding that Eleven’s powers could become stronger, could be amplified by fueling them with emotions, particularly fear and anger, was key in closing the gate, fighting Billy in his flayed state, even tearing the physical Mind Flayer in two, all things she wouldn’t have been able to have done without the help of her sister.

Except, without the Void, Eleven was left trying to follow breadcrumbs left behind, and there weren’t many, particularly for someone with Kali’s skillset.

She had been at the library for almost 3 hours with no luck. Her reading still wasn’t the greatest and she struggled through, taking far more time to read then any other person her age. And she was running out of daylight since she had promised Joyce to be back before sundown.

For obvious reasons, Joyce was a little apprehensive about letting the kids bike around at night.

Eleven was just packing up when the door to the library opens and Jonathan walks in. She notices him before he does her, and she watches curiously as he scans the room before his eyes meet hers and he gives her an awkward wave.

She grabs her shoulder bag and slips it over her neck before walking over to him.

‘Hey.’

‘Hi?’ she replies back, a little confused.

He laughs and scratches the back of his head. ‘Mom asked me to give you a ride home tonight. I think she is just worried, you know?’

‘Oh... okay.’ She follows Jonathan outside to where his car is parked, Eleven’s bike already shoved awkwardly in the back seat, half hanging out the open window.

Eleven and Jonathan had never really bonded. He had always been Will’s older brother or Nancy’s boyfriend, protective and loyal but not much else to Eleven. She appreciates him for who he was though, especially when he tried to help her at Starcourt Mall.

But even after they had moved away, he still kept much to himself, entrenched in his photography and his music, always there but never really.

‘Did you find what you were looking for?’

He breaks the silence a few minutes into the drive and Eleven turns to him.

‘How did you...’

He laughs, his fingers drumming along the steering wheel to the beat coming from his stereo. ‘You are a fifteen year old girl who spent her free afternoon in the library reading old newspaper articles. It isn’t rocket science.’

‘Rocket science?’

The complexity of language still got her sometimes.

‘Rocket science. It’s like saying,’ Jonathan pauses and Eleven knows he is trying to think of an explanation. She had seen that look of Hopper and Mike a thousand times. ‘It’s kind of like saying ‘it’s not that difficult to figure out,’ kind of.’

‘Oh.’ Eleven looks out the window and feels bad though she doesn’t know why.

Jonathan looks over at her, swallowing. ‘Hey, its not a bad thing,’ he says gently. ‘What were you looking for?’

Eleven bites her tongue, not replying to his question.

‘Eleven, maybe I can help?’

She looks over at him, his kind eyes and gentle expression and she sighs defeat because she doesn’t know who she can turn to anymore and maybe Jonathan will understand.

So she tells him.

She tells him about missing her powers, and her fear of the Upside Down returning, and about Chicago and Kali and how badly she wants to find her.  
And afterwards, Jonathan stays quiet and stares out of the windscreen for what seems like the longest time until Eleven can’t take the silence anymore.

‘Jonathan?’

He looks at her and smiles. ‘I think I know how to find her.’

‘You do?’

‘Maybe. I don’t want to promise anything because I don’t want to disappoint you but... maybe.’

‘What can I do?’ Eleven asks, serious and determined because this is the first time in a long time she felt like someone might be on her side with this and it excites her a little bit.

‘You can go home, do your school work and forget about it.’ The answer stings like defeat but she was expecting it somewhat and gives a resigned sigh which makes Jonathan laugh. ‘Have you ever heard of the saying ‘_watching the kettle boil_?’

Eleven shakes her head.

‘You know when you want to make a tea or cocoa and you fill the jug and switch it on, and you stand there looking at it, waiting for the signs, the steam from the top, the bubbling noise, it can seem to take _forever_.’ Eleven hangs on to every word because she loves to learn new things. ‘But if you were to turn it on and leave it, maybe go watch tv or listen to music, you go back and you find the kettle is boiled already and it happens so fast. Does that make sense?’

Eleven squints as she tries to decipher the meaning of the boiling kettle until finally realization dawns on her. ‘So you want me to forget about finding Kali?’

‘I just want you to trust me to do my best to find her, and not live your life in expectation. Time goes by so fast Eleven. Soon we will all be old and grey telling our own children stories and I just want you to enjoy your youth, as much as you can.’

Eleven nods her head. ‘I understand.’ She takes a breath. ‘And I do trust you Jonathan.’

‘You do?’

Eleven nods her head. ‘Not to find her, though.’ Jonathan’s eyebrow raises at her brutal honesty but Eleven has always been blunt and she knows the task of finding Kali is extremely difficult. She takes a breath. ‘I trust that you will do your best. Thank you.’

Jonathan smiles as that and nods his head. ‘You’re welcome Eleven.’

‘El.’

‘What?’

‘You can call me El for short if you want, instead of Eleven.’ She smiles over at him, sees the happiness in Jonathan’s face and she knows she has said the right thing.

‘El.’

III.

‘So if you add these two numbers together, a 6,’ Joyce points the number out on the chalk board, then shifts her hand over, ‘and a 5, what number do you get?’

Eleven stares at the numbers on the board with so much intensity you would think she was trying to shatter it to pieces. She mouths the numbers with her lips, 6, 5, she looks down to the notepad in front of her, back to the chalk board, and then to her fingers, where she counts them out.

Eleven’s face breaks into a smile. ‘11. 6 and 5 make 11!’ She is so happy and Joyce absolutely _lives_ for these moments with the young girl in front of her, these small triumphs that should have happened years ago. The happiness on Eleven’s face is reflected in Joyce’s own.

‘Yes, you got it, good job sweetie.’ Joyce holds out a hand and Eleven high fives her in celebration.

When she had lived with Jim, he had done as good a job as he could teaching her the basics, particularly English. They would sit and read together and he would give her a word of the day.

But subjects like Math and Science, all these were brand new to Eleven. So Joyce and Jonathan split up lessons between them, Joyce teaching her Math three times a week after work, and Jonathan teaching her Science twice a week.

She had Art class with Will, which was basically them sitting at a table drawing with his crayons. She wasn’t good at drawing, not like Will was.

‘So if 5 and 6 make 11, what do you think 6 and 6 make?’

‘12?’ Eleven replies a little timidly.

‘Yes, you got it, you just add the extra 1.’ Joyce writes out the equation in numerical form on the board for Eleven to look at, and then writes ‘Five and Six equals Eleven’ beneath the formula.

Eleven copies it out on her notepad. Her writing had definitely improved over the last few months, Joyce notes. What started at harsh scrawling, the pencil almost breaking with the pressure Eleven wrote with, now it had softened, gotten more curlier on its own accord and far more intelligible.

Joyce was so so proud of her.

‘I’m proud of you, Eleven...’ She finds herself saying it out loud.

Eleven looks up at her, her pencil coming to a stop on the pad mid sentence. Joyce can see the young girls eyes grow glassy and she absolutely _hates_ that expressing pride in her caused such an adverse reaction.

God, those sons of bitches at Hawkins Lab deserved everything that came to them for how they treated Eleven, a _child_. Testing, prodding, torturing her at the time in her life where she needed love the most.

No matter how well adjusted Eleven was (and she _was_, amazingly, all things considered), there were still moments, moments like now, where she reacted with such surprise, such wonder and sadness that an adult could be proud in something she did, something as little as solving a math equation.

‘Thank you...’ Eleven looks back down at her pad. Joyce knows she is trying not to cry and it breaks her heart.

‘I’m going to uh, I’m going to start dinner, okay?’

Eleven nods without looking up, so Joyce moves passed her, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze before moving away. Only, she doesn’t head to the kitchen. Instead, she walks to her bedroom, slipping in and shutting the door behind her just in time to hide tears of her own.

She slumps back against the door and slides to the ground, sobbing and sobbing.

Crying for Eleven and her missed childhood, for the horrors she had to face when no child should.

Crying for her own son Will, who still showed signs of trauma, even now six months later, who still cried out at night for her.

For Bob, who died a hero, who gave his life to save theirs.

And Jim.

Joyce’s head drops into her hands. She knows the guilt Eleven feels over Hopper’s death. Feels it deep within herself with the knowledge that she was the one who turned the keys that destroyed the man.

She knows he wouldn’t have had it any other way, knows she did exactly what Jim had wanted from her. But it doesn’t stop her from dreaming every night that they had gotten their dinner at Enzo’s.

Back in the living room, Will wanders down and takes a seat opposite Eleven. He knows she is upset about something but he also knows sometimes it is better just to leave it with El, that she comes around eventually.

‘Where’s Mom?’

Eleven wipes her nose with the sleeve of her jacket. ‘She said she was making dinner but, I think she went to her room instead.’

‘Huh,’ Will scratches the back of his head and smiles. ‘Guess that means it’s Eggo’s for dinner huh?’

Eleven’s eyes lighten up and she nods quickly. As Will gets up to go toast some of his sisters favorite food, he can’t help but feel a little proud at being able to bring a smile to her face.

Over the last six months, being away from his friends, missing Mike, Lucas and Dustin, he found himself clinging to Eleven, like she was the last little connection to the others.

And he felt she did much the same. Despite not knowing each other for as long as the others, Will was fairly confident that besides Mike, he was closest now to El.

He could be open with her, joke and laugh with her. He loved her, loved her like he would have loved his own sister.

‘Are you okay?’

Will turns to wear Joyce is standing. Her eyes are red rimmed with tears but Will smiles. 

‘I am okay.’

IV.

The _crackle_ of the walkie wakes her with a start. Eleven hadn’t even realized she had fallen asleep. A quick glance at Mike’s watch on her wrist reads 10.38pm.

‘_El, are you there? This is Mike, over._’  
Mikes voice comes through the walkie now, somehow sounding deeper and richer with every passing day, even if it’s distorted through the long distance radio waves.

She lifts the walkie from her chest, rolling onto her side and clicking the speaker button.

‘Mike, I copy. Over.’

There is a moments pause before he replies. ‘_El, I am so so sorry I’m late for our call. We had an AV club emergency at school today. Let’s just say Lucas is in detention for a week and the school needs to order a new projector._’

El laughs as Mike explains the antics they had gotten up to that day. Mike and her try to talk every day, though lately things seemed to be getting the way. She missed his chat yesterday since she was at the library again, and Mike the day before that because of a family thing (his grandma is really sick this time).

But she lives for these moments, listening to Mike speak, imagining him on the hill next to Cerebro.

‘Is it cold there? It must be.’

‘_Don’t worry mom, I have my jacket on_.’

El frowns. ‘Did you just call me mom?’

There’s a break and then, ‘_yeah, I did. I don’t know why I did that. Sorry_.’

‘Don’t be. It was funny.’

‘_So how was your day? Any luck with your powers_?’

Eleven pulls at a stray thread on her blanket, the gnawing feeling of guilt in her stomach at not being completely honest with Mike about her journey to reignite her abilities. She knows he will just worry too much and there isn’t anything he could do to help in Hawkins anyway.

‘_El_?’

‘No change,’ she sighs, rolling onto her back and staring up at the dark ceiling above her head. ‘I wish I could see you.’

A moment passes. ‘_I wish you could see me too. Then you would know how much I miss you right now_.’

A smile spreads over Eleven’s face at hearing Mike’s confession. They hadn’t said the ‘love’ word since the Byers home back in Hawkins, but it hung over them, the knowledge that both of them felt that strong about each other.

‘I wish,’ El takes a breath. ‘I wish you were here right now, with me.’

‘_Do you think Mrs. Byers would let us have the door closed_?’

Eleven laughs, a quiet chuckle that is muffled by her pillow since she doesn’t want to make too much noise. The house they had moved into isn’t too big, three bedrooms and a basement where Jonathan sleeps. Joyce knows Eleven speaks to Mike almost every night but she still doesn’t want to upset her.

‘No way. Three inch minimum, remember?’

‘_Right. Of course_.’

Eleven goes quiet after that, memories of her time in Hoppers cabin with Mike, Hopp on his favorite chair just outside

‘_El_.’

She takes a breath. ‘Yes.’

‘_I miss him too. It’s okay to miss him_.’

‘I know.’

‘_But you know, you always have me right?_’ She listens to his voice, holds onto every one of his words as she always has. ‘_I know I can’t be with you in person, because I’m only fifteen and my mom is still weirdly attached to me, but as soon as I get my license I’ll be driving there. I don’t care if I have to spend all my money on petrol to get me there_.

‘Mike...’

‘_El, I spent 353 days apart from you and 387 days with you and I am not going back to feeling how I did when you weren’t there. Because..._’ the line goes quiet but Eleven knows he is still there and she has a feeling she knows why he has gone quiet. Her breath hitches in anticipation.

‘_El I_...’ silence again. _Just say it, please_. She hears him murmur to himself and she lets out her breath in defeat.  
‘_I love you._’

Eleven’s heart gives a excited thump and she squeezes her eyes shut. She hadn’t realized how terribly she needed to hear him say those three words.

‘_El_?’

She clicks the speaker, not realizing that she is smiling from ear to ear until she replies. ‘I love you too.’

There is a shared content silence between them then, each basking in the knowledge and happiness at hearing the other speak.

‘_I can’t wait until Thanksgiving. I bet your hair is getting long now. You probably look even more beautiful than last time I saw you_.’

‘Not too long.’

‘_I bet there are a hundred boys after you there_.’

‘No boys, Mike.’ She knows that he is teasing her. She stops short of saying even if there _were_ boys it wouldn’t matter to her because she was only interested in him.

‘_I don’t want to brag or anything, but I got you the greatest Thanksgiving gift of all time_.’ Eleven laughs. ‘_Seriously, it is going to set the benchmark for fifteen year old boyfriends worldwide_.’

‘Seeing you will be the best present.’

‘_Oh man. You ruined it, I was just going to tie a bow around my head and knock on your door_.’ Eleven laughs out loud this time, catches herself. They speak for another hour, voices getting quieter and softer until finally Eleven falls asleep once more.

Back in Hawkins, Mike switches Cerebro off, yawning and stretching.

It was going on midnight now, and the bike back home is a good twenty minutes for him. He had recently gotten better tires for his mountain bike which made traversing the hill a little easier.

It was nothing for him though. He would do anything for Eleven, just like she would do anything for him. He loves her. Mike smiles at the thought, happy to have finally said it out loud and not to his reflection in practice.

He realized then how brave Eleven is, not just in battle but in the quiet moments, just she and him.

For someone who had grown up in a compound, with no natural affection shown to her, she was somehow so fearless and open with her feelings, particularly for Mike.

And as crappy and horrible all the mess with the Upside Down has brought them, there was a part of him that would always be grateful, because he would never have met Eleven otherwise. And he can’t imagine his life without her.

A rustle in the nearby trees draws Mike back to the present and he walks over to where his bike is laying, picking it up and peddling down the hill.

The night is cold and misty and if he had waiting another few minutes, he might have made out the faint outline of a outer worldly presence, unnaturally tall and disfigured, not more than a few feet from where he had just been...


	2. Life in Hawkins

V.

It had been Mike’s idea for the all out extravagant twenty-four hour long Dungeon and Dragon campaign to take place over Thanksgiving weekend. It would be the last time the Party would be in the same place for the foreseeable future, with Max’s family looking to move and Dustin off to Science camp again. 

The excitement had been radiating off of Will ever since Mike had told him about his idea. Eleven had known about it for a while now since Mike had asked what she thought about it. He still felt bad about how he treated Will last year and had been working on the campaign since then.

‘You wouldn’t mind spending a day listening to a bunch of nerds playing D&D would you?’ he had asked her. She reassured him that she wouldn’t mind, that her and Max would even participate when they could. Eleven already had her character, a mysterious Mage with unparalleled magical ability. And, after many days of trying to convince Max, they finally had her character, a cleric and healer aptly named MadMax. 

‘A twenty-four hour campaign, El it is going to be epic!’ Will is rummaging through his closet while El sits on the end of his bed, watching him with a wide smile. ‘None of us really liked to admit it but Mike always did the best campaigns! The longest one we ever played was ten hours.’

Though Eleven could never understand how someone could play a board game for ten hours, let alone twenty-four, Will’s enthusiasm is infectious and the knowledge that in a few weeks time she will be seeing Mike again, in the flesh, meant even her worst day had a silver lining. 

Will emerges from his closet with a purple length of fabric and a pointy hat. 

‘What is that?’

‘This is my D&D costume. Well, actually, this is the cloak and hat of Will the Wise.’ He chucks the hat on, hands on his hips. ‘What do you think?’

Eleven laughs. ‘I think you look very wise.’

‘We need to make your costume.’

‘My costume?’ 

‘Of course. You are Elenor, the mage of Kir forest. You need to look the part!’

Eleven looks down at her clothes, overalls and a baggy oversized shirt and looks back at Will. ‘Will you help me, make my outfit?’

‘It would be my pleasure my lady,’ Will bows and Eleven smiles wide. 

There is a knock on Wills door and Jonathan pops his head in. ‘Hey baby bro, can I borrow El for a second.’

Will nods, ‘of course. I’ll get started on your uniform.’

Eleven smiles as she leaves the room, though she can’t figure out if she is more excited getting dressed up as a mage, or the fact the Mike will see her in the outfit. 

‘Sorry to interrupt,’ Jonathan begins but Eleven waves him off.

‘What did you find out?’ It has been almost two weeks since their conversation in the car and Eleven had been about as patient as she could during that time. She hadn’t been ‘ _watching the kettle boil_’ , like he had said. 

Jonathan reaches into the back pocket of his pants and hands Eleven a scrap of paper with an address scrawled on it. ‘This is all my guy could find. A girl matching the description you gave me has been living here, although she might not be staying for long.’

‘Illinois?’ 

‘Yeah. Does that mean anything?’

‘I met Kali in Chicago.’

‘Well, that’s a good sign, right? It means it could be her.’

Eleven bites her bottom lip softly in thought. ‘Can we go there, today?’

‘To Illinois?’ Jonathan scratches the back of his head as Eleven nods her own. ‘I have to run it passed mom first.’

Eleven goes to argue but stops herself short. She was still getting used to living with rules and boundaries, to be answerable to someone. Joyce had taken her in, adopted her, added her birth certificate beside Jonathan’s and Will’s. She has been accepted and loved and Eleven knows, knows without a doubt, that if she approaches Joyce openly and honestly, the older woman will be understanding. 

‘Okay.’

‘Okay?’ He seems surprised at her response which is understandable. To be honest, Eleven is a little surprised herself. The old Eleven from a year ago answered to no one. 

‘Yes. You are right. Joyce should know.’

‘Okay. We can talk to her together, when she gets home.’

Eleven nods, happy that she has someone on her side with this. 

‘So, are you excited to see Mike?’

‘Yes,’ she replies simply. ‘Are you excited to see Nancy?’

Jonathan’s cheeks flush and it is kind of adorable seeing the reaction in him, even after all this time. It was kind of like when Mike called Eleven beautiful at the Snow Ball. She had been so happy, so embarrassed and so nervous all at once, for some reason her cheeks grew warm. Jonathan looked like that.

‘Of course. I miss her.’

Eleven nods because she knows how he feels. Some nights she misses Mike so terrible it makes her ache. She takes a breath. ‘We’ll talk to Joyce tonight?’

‘Tonight.’

VI.

‘So... Luke and Leia are brother and sister?’

‘Yes.’

‘But, they kissed, like, on the lips.’

‘Yeah... but they didn’t know they  were related when they kissed. And everyone _knows_ Leia only did that to make Han jealous.’

‘And Han is the big hairy alien, right?’

‘Oh my god, you really are a dingus.’ Robin throws an M&M at Steve’s face from where she is perched on the counter of the Family Video store. 

It was always a dead zone during the 10am - 12pm period which meant Steve and Robin usually found themselves getting up to no good. Steve has already defaced some of the old posters they found out back, the Terminator now the proud owner of a handlebar mustache and Afro. Seriously, it was a miracle they still had their jobs.

‘You’re a dingus,’ Steve shoots back, wheeling the old plastic trolley full of returned videos past her to the Science Fiction section. 

Robin tilts back on the counter until she is lying on her back and drops an M&M in her mouth. ‘Hey Steve?’

‘Yeah?’

She flops her head to the side and watches as Steve adds the videos to the shelves. ‘What is going on with you and Nancy?’

The video in Steve’s hand fumbles from his grasp and drops to the ground, while Steve tries to recover adorably awkwardly with a hand on his hip. ‘What, uh... I don’t know, what yours uh...’

Robin sits up and raises an eyebrow at him, her simple ‘_Don’t try to bullshit me_’  message coming across loud and clear. 

Steve crosses over to her, his voice dropping even though there is no one in the store. ‘How do you know about that?’

‘I saw you two making out in the storage closest last week,’ Robin replies casually. 

She had been trying to find the new shipment of videos and opened the door only to find Nancy Wheeler pressed up against the old dusty shelving with Steve’s lips sucking what Robin could only presume was the mother of all hickeys on her neck.

Robin had slipped out and shut the door, the two not even aware she had been in there. Not too surprising.

‘Oh...’

‘She has a boyfriend, dude.’ Robin watches as Steve looks down at his feet and is a little happy that at the very least, he feels guilty.

‘I know, I know, I’m trash.’

‘Well, let’s step back from this a little bit.  _Nancy_ is the one who is with someone currently, that guy Jeremy,’

‘Jonathan.’

‘Right.’ She has only met him once and it had been a  _pretty_ crazy night. But he and Nancy were definitely an item and Nancy should _definitely_ not be hooking up with Steve. ‘You aren’t trash, Steve. And you aren’t an asshole,’ she shrugs one shoulder. ‘Well, not anymore anyway.’

‘Thanks.’

‘You’re welcome.’ They both laugh. Ever since their incarceration with the Russians and their heart-to-heart in the Starcourt public toilets, Steve and Robin have been at a place where they could be as open and honest with each other without any fear of judgement. (_That was one nice side effect of being injected with truth serum, it really broke down barriers_.)

It was the kind of friendship few really ever got to experience and it couldn’t have come at a better time for Robin, who was feeling like she might just explode if she wasn’t able to be who she really was around someone.

She hadn’t come out to her parents, and with each passing day and each quiet comment of how she should find a nice boy to bring home, Robin begins to _seriously_ doubt she will ever be able to tell them who she really is.

But with Steve, she is herself. 

Steve turns and hops onto the counter beside her, clasping his hands on his lap. ‘I don’t know what happened, honestly.’

‘I do. You never really moved on from her, she never really moved on from you. Long distance relationships suck so what followed was probably always going to happen.’

Steve loved how straight up Robin was. She was literally his little ‘bull shit lie detector’. Seriously, he can’t even remember how he made any decisions without her input anymore. ‘So, what do you think I should do?’

‘I would end it with _her_ until she has ended it with  _him_ ,’ Robin says. Steve doesn’t really want to hear it but knows she is right. ‘It’s going to suck but you don’t want to go back to being that guy. Dingus Steve is a much better person than asshole Steve.’

‘Have I ever told you how much I love the nicknames you give me?’ Robin laughs as Steve nudges his shoulder to hers. ‘No seriously, I get this warm fuzzy feeling when I hear you call me Dingus Steve, like, no matter what happens, you will always be there to insult me after. It’s a very comforting feeling.’

‘Anytime.’ He is doing that thing though, Robin can tell, where he is joking around and trying to brush off how he is really feeling. Which is cut up. She knows he has always held a torch for Nancy Wheeler, the girl he first fell in love with. 

‘Oh shit!’

His reaction startles Robin. ‘What?’

‘I just saw Nancy’s car pull up!’ Steve falls from the counter, hands raised as he looks from right to left desperately.

‘Steve, what are you doing?’ Robin drops down beside him.

‘I need to hide.’

‘From  _Nancy_ ?’ 

‘Yes.’

The look of utter confusion on Robin’s face would have been hilarious if Steve had time to enjoy it. 

‘Look, you are totally right, hooking up with her behind Jonathan’s back is a dick move but I can’t, I need time to think and if Nancy comes in her with her pretty smile and her perfume I’m going to say or do something stupid so...’

‘Dude she is like, three feet away...’

Without a word, Steve vaults over the counter and lands in a pile on the ground behind it, letting out a grunt of pain just as the bells to the door jingle and Nancy Wheeler walks in.

Robin quickly leans her elbow back on the counter, hoping it comes across as totally natural while also knowing that it’s not, particularly when Nancy frowns at her. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Yep,’ Robin replies quickly. ‘I just, I like to stand here sometimes, like this. It helps me think.’

‘Oh... okay.’

Robin hears a quiet chuckle come from behind the counter and it takes all of her energy not to hurl empty video cases at Steve where he is curled up. God, how did they always get themselves into these situations? 

‘Is Steve here? I,’ Nancy stops, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. ‘I really need to talk to him.’ 

‘He’s not here, sorry.’

‘But I saw his car outside,’ Nancy says, pointing to Steve’s car out the window.

‘Right, he’s on a pizza run. Literally. He is running to get pizza.’ Robin freaking deserves a bullshit award because damn, she can make up some stories on the spot. 

‘Do you know what time he will be back?’

Robin shakes her head slowly. Something was really bothering Nancy, it was evident all over her face, and for a small moment she feels like giving up her dingus friends position because the girl in front of her is clearly hurting. ‘I can let him know you stopped by?’

Nancy nods once, her eyes falling to her feet. ‘Yeah, Okay.’ 

‘Okay.’ 

‘Okay,’ Nancy turns and leaves the store, Robin watching as she crosses the street to where her car is parked. It was the longest conversation she has ever shared with perfect Nancy Wheeler and... ‘she is really something.’

Steve’s head pops up from behind the counter, watching Nancy as she walked further and further away. ‘She really is.’ 

VII.

Joyce is understandably apprehensive about Jonathan and Eleven’s mission to track down her sister, especially when El mentions Kali’s abilities.

‘She can make you  _see_ things?’ Joyce’s face is scrunched up in confusion and Eleven bites back a smile because Will’s mom is so expressive with her emotions, completely opposite to Eleven herself. ‘What kind of things?’

‘Whatever she wants you to see.’ The memory of Kali making her see Papa still haunts her to this day. The effect of it was so intense, even though Eleven knew it was a mind trick. She blinks a few times and focuses on reassuring Joyce once more.‘She won’t hurt me.’ 

‘Are you sure?’ Joyce reaches over and takes Eleven’s hand, her thumb running along the top of her skin. ‘Sweetie, without your powers, you are vulnerable to these people. You have lived your whole life knowing you are stronger then everyone else... I think you need to be more careful.’

Eleven is a little upset at her words and she takes a shaky breath in, gritting her teeth together. 

‘I’m sorry honey but it needs to be said,’ Joyce smiles, so genuine that Eleven can’t be really be angry anymore because it is refreshing to have an adult care about her like Joyce does. 

She looks down at their joint hands and blinks. ‘Kali might be able to help me get my powers back. I need them.’

‘Why?’

Eleven looks at Jonathan beside her in hopes he might be able to back her up and explain why she needed her abilities again, but the boy remains silent, looking at the table and avoiding her eyes.

Eleven sighs. ‘I have fought and killed monsters from the Upside Down, and bad men from this place. I saved Mike and Lucas and Dustin and Will,’ she meets Joyce’s eyes at the mention of her son’s name. ‘I fought the Mind Flayer, and I saved Nancy and Jonathan’s life. With my powers. If I don’t have them back and the gate is opened again...’

‘It won’t be.’

‘That’s what we said the first time,’ Eleven cuts Joyce off. ‘And it was. Because there is  _always_ going to be bad men who want to use the Upside Down. And I need to be there to stop them.’ Eleven looks down at her hands. ‘I don’t know who I am without my powers and, and I don’t know my place if I can’t help people who need it.’

Something in the way she spoke, the look in her eyes, Eleven  _knew_ she had convinced Joyce at that moment. 

‘Okay honey.’ Eleven lets out a sign of relief. ‘But you stay by Jonathan’s side the whole time, understand?’

‘Yes.’

‘And I want you guys back here tomorrow. If you aren’t, I’m sending out a search party. I’ll call the damn US army again, I don’t care.’ Joyce is tearing up now and that’s when Eleven realizes how hard letting her go is. The thought propels her across the table and she wraps Joyce up in a hug, burying her head in her neck.

‘Thank you.’ 

‘Just stay safe sweetie, I can’t...’ her voice trails off for a moment before continuing with a shudder, ‘I can’t lose you too.’

Eleven pulls back, using her thumbs to wipe the tears from Joyce’s cheek.  ‘You won’t lose me,’ she says. 

A little while later, as Jonathan and her are on the road heading towards Illinois, Jonathan finally speaks up.

‘You were good,’ Jonathan looks over at her. ‘With mom at home. I know she worries a lot but you were really good with her.’

Eleven keeps her eyes on the passing trees, flicking from one to the next. ‘You are lucky. She loves you.’

Jonathan grips the steering wheel tightly. ‘She loves you too El. We all do.’

VIII.

‘ _Turn around, look at what you seeeeeee_ .’

‘_In her face, the mirror of your dreaaaaam_ _s_.’

‘Mother of god, would you two just stop already,’ Dustin turns around to where Lucas and Max are dancing behind him on the sidewalk, serenading each other. ‘It’s been six months, it’s not funny anymore.’

‘It’s still kind of funny,’ Max grins back. 

The two had been taking the opportunity to recreate Dustin’s rendition of the Neverending Story theme song so many times, it had become a sort of routine, complete with an interpretative dance sequence which they were currently acting out on the pavement in the middle of Hawkins on the way to the arcade. 

A little further ahead, Mike scuffles along with his hands deep in the pockets of his pants, kicking at loose stones on the pavement. 

He wasn’t really in the mood to play games but the rest of the Party didn’t give him much choice. 

‘You have been pining and moping over your girlfriend long enough. It’s time to leave your room,’ Lucas had said that afternoon when he turned up unannounced.

‘I’m not moping,’ Mike offered back weakly.

‘Oxford dictionary literally changed the description of ‘moping’ to a picture of your face, Mike,’ Dustin said back, walking to Mike’s bed and dropping to the floor.

‘What are you doing?’

‘What does it look like I’m doing? I’m looking for quarters.’ He reaches under the bed and ruffles around.

Mike huffs, standing up. ‘Where are your quarters?’

‘I’m kind of short this week guys.’

‘You were short last week too!’ Lucas snaps. ‘Be a man and go wash somebodies car.’

‘Hey, I can’t help that my girlfriend lives a hundred miles away and I need to spend my money on supplies for Cerebro,’ Dustin answers. ‘Which, let’s be honest, Mike should be pitching in on maintenance because he uses it more then me.’

‘I do not,’ Mike says back.

‘Do too.’

They had continued arguing like that for about ten minutes until Max calls from downstairs, telling them to hurry up. 

That is how Mike found himself here. It was probably a good thing to get out of the house. He _had_ been moping around for a few weeks. The Dungeon and Dragons campaign he had put together for Thanksgiving week had kept him occupied for a month or two, but he had completed that. And he found, with spare time on his hands, he didn’t really know what to do with himself.

He went to school, sat through classes, did his homework, ate breakfast and lunch and dinner, got to Sunday, and repeated the process.

Without Eleven, Mike felt like he was in the Twilight Zone or limbo or something. Things he used to love to do just weren’t the same anymore. He misses her so much, more then he even thought it was possible to miss someone. Sometimes at school he would hear a girl laugh or speak and he could  _swear_ it was Eleven. And every time he would turn and look at whatever strange imposter it was, this ugly feeling of disappointment would naw at his stomach which was quickly followed by a little voice calling him an idiot because,  _of course Eleven wouldn’t be in Hawkins Middle School_.

Mike looks up as they reach the corner of the sidewalk and sees Nancy’s car parked opposite Family video, which gives him an idea.

He takes off in a jog.

‘Mike, where are you going? The arcade is this way,’ Dustin yells out after him. 

Mike reaches the car just as Nancy comes out of the video store. She looks... weird. He doesn’t know what it was about her lately but she had been acting different. 

_Like you are one to talk_ , Mike scoffs to himself. Jonathan left, the same as Eleven. She is just missing him.

‘Hey Nancy.’

She looks up and sees him there. ‘What are you doing here?’ 

He waits until she has crossed the road, tilting up onto his toes. ‘I need your help with something.’

‘What is it?’

Mike feels his cheeks grow red. ‘I uh, I wanted to get a dress, for El, as a Thanksgiving present.’

‘A dress?’ Nancy is both confused and a little bit impressed at her brothers request.  ‘I thought you already got her a present.’

‘I want to get her another one,’ Mike shrugs one shoulder.

Nancy can’t believe how different her brother is. No offense or anything but Mike used to be a little asshole growing up, only caring about what he wanted to do, at least, when it came to Nancy.

Now, he was... thoughtful and kind and he actually cared about stuff and he wasn’t scared to show it. 

And he was  _tall_ . She wonders if he will  ever  stop growing taller. He is all gangly limbs and floppy hair and Nancy has to smile because her brother is a nerd who scored the most badass awesome girlfriend ever.

‘So, why a dress?’

Mike tilts his head to the side. ‘Well, before she left, El was kind of really into fashion and clothes and stuff,’ another  _gift_ that Max bestowed upon her, ‘and I thought she would like it. Is it not a good idea?’

‘No, it is, Mike. It’s really sweet.’ She stops short of saying no guy has ever thought of getting  _her_ a dress. No. She can’t think about guys right now, that situation is way too messed up to deal with at the moment.

‘ _Mike_ !’

Dustin’s loud broken call sails over the street to where the two Wheeler kids are standing, and they turn to the others.

Dustin throws his hands in the air. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I’ll meet up with you guys later, Nancy needs me for something,’ Mike cups mouth and yells back.

‘What? No I don...’

Mike elbows his older sister roughly before waving at Lucas, Max and Dustin as the three amble off into the arcade.

Max makes a beeline for DigDug. ‘I am so beating my score today boys, I can feel it.’

Lucas laughs at his girlfriends enthusiasm. ‘It still blows my mind how awesome you are,’ he says. 

‘Yeah?’ Max smiles and leans over to press her lips to his in a brief kiss, though it is still long enough for Dustin to start gagging.

‘I thought we were over the public displays of affection when Eleven left,’ he pouted. 

‘Like you wouldn’t be kissing Suzie if she were here,’ Lucas rolls his eyes.

‘If you must know, Suzie and I get more enjoyment discussing astrophysics and philosophy then kissing.’

‘Mmmm, that’s just cause you guys weren’t doing it right,’ Max jokes. She ducks away from Dustin quickly while Lucas doubles over in laughter. 

‘Hilarious, Max!’ Dustin flips her off across the arcade before heading to the air hockey machine. ‘Prepare yourself to get owned Sinclair.’

Lucas walks up to his side and puts a hand to his chest, taking a few breaths. ‘Okay, I have to get into the zone, give me a sec.’ He shuts his eyes, nodding his head a few times before, ‘ _turn around, look at what you seeeee_ .’

Dustin fixes Lucas with a blank stare. ‘I hate you.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t kill me for the Nancy/Steve angle, it just came out as I was writing, purely based off the look Steve gives her at the Snow Ball. That is some hard core pining right there lol.


End file.
